Caster Sugar (the same weight as your plums when the stones are removed)

Water (10ml/100g of fruit)

Lemon Juice (1tbs/1kg of fruit)

Ground Cinnamon (1tsp/1kg of fruit)

Butter

First things first, pop a couple of saucers/plates in the freezer… You will need these to test your jam later!

As mentioned above, the recipe can be edited to suit how many plums you have. Once the stones were removed, mine weighed about 650g.

Put your chopped up plums in a non-stick saucepan with some water (approx 65ml for my measurements). And allow the plums to simmer and soften for about 10 mins. You want the plums to be soft but not mushy.

Next, add the caster sugar (650g), lemon juice (1tbs) and cinnamon (1tsp) into the plums and allow the sugar to dissolve in the mixture. This should be done on a gentle heat (not boiling) and will take approx 10 mins.

After the sugar has dissolved,(you can tell when you move your wooden spoon along the bottom of the pan, you won’t feel grains anymore), you can turn the heat up! Get the mixture onto a boil.

Once the mixture has been boiling for 5 mins, get one of your frozen saucers and drop a small amount of jam onto it. Give it a minute and then push the jam with your fingertip. If the mixture wrinkles when you move it, it’s ready. If it doesn’t wrinkle, keep boiling for a few more minutes and check again.

If you are super posh you might have a sugar thermometer… I don’t. But if you do, I believe the perfect temperature for jam is 105 degrees celsius, that’s when you know it’s ready.

When you are happy the jam is good to go, take it off the heat and add a knob of butter. The butter helps to disperse any scum when the jam is in the jars. Then let the mixture cool for 15 minutes or so.

Finally, pour the jam into hot jars, seal and leave to cool at room temperature.

The finished jam will last for around a year and once opened should be kept refrigerated.

Top tips:

Cut disks of baking paper into circles, about 1cm wider than your jars to put on top under a screw lid. This will help to maintain a seal. Although jam often forms its own seal, so it’s not necessary.

Remember to sterilise your jars before using them, there are a few ways to do it depending on the type of jar you have. I washed mine in HOT soapy water and then put them in the oven on gas mark 1 to dry them out.

You could also put ground ginger in your jam too if you like, for a bit of extra spice.

Let me know if any of you give it a go! Or if you have any other recipes which would be worth trying.